Arrangement and method for location based content provision

ABSTRACT

Electronic arrangement including a network accessible service display entity for enabling a user to obtain information regarding an asset associated with physical location via service display accessible with a terminal device, a location management entity configured to obtain an indication of a physical location of the user, a zone database configured to store a plurality of geographical content provision zones for the asset relating to the physical location of the asset, and a content provision entity configured to provide content to a user visiting the service display based on the particular zone whereto the user location is mapped. Related method and computer program product are presented.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Generally the present invention pertains to computer and communicationsystems. In particular, the present invention concerns arrangements andmethods for location based provision of digital content.

BACKGROUND

In the prevailing time of information flood, there is an ever-growingneed for practical solutions allowing targeted content provision.Businesses are desperate to find feasible ways to attract consumers,which has led to the current situation; consumers are being drowned inadvertisement and information spam. Computing and communications devicesallow ways to reach consumers more conveniently and in a larger scale.However, such means may ultimately appear intrusive and thereby the endresult of trying to attract customers may be disappointing, potentiallythe exact opposite.

By the increasing number of mobile computing devices such as smartphonesand tablets comprising user locating means, location-based services(LBS) has become a trend topic. Since physical location plays animportant role in consumer behavior and interest, related services arebeing developed. Today a consumer may easily locate location-associatedservices such as stores and restaurants by GPS (Global PositioningSystem) mapping software applications. However, such softwareapplications tend to lack any targeted information and all users will beprovided with the same set of basic information.

Web pages on the other hand are one of the most, if not the most,popular source of consumer information today. Web pages represent aprimary marketing channel for businesses to provide real timeinformation such as changes in opening hours, offers, reservationsystems, etc. Depending e.g. on the distance to a service provider'sphysical location, consumers will share various interests towards it.Someone close by may be interested more in ongoing offers whereasconsumers located further away may find it more beneficial to getinformation on upcoming events. Nowadays, web pages tend to provide thesame information for every visitor and personalization, if any, is basedon at least partially user-defined account settings or click-throughadvertisement banners provided by an additional ad service.

SUMMARY

The objective is to at least alleviate one or more problems describedhereinabove not yet satisfactorily solved by the known arrangements, andto provide a feasible solution for location based content provisionespecially through approaching online users with targeted information.

The aforesaid objective is achieved by the embodiments of an arrangementand method in accordance with the present invention. The presentsolution may be applied for obtaining an indication of the location of auser visiting an asset's online service display, such as a web page orweb site, and thereby providing targeted information to the user.

In one aspect of the present invention, an electronic arrangement, suchas one or more servers, comprises

-   -   a network accessible service display entity for enabling a user        to obtain information regarding an asset associated with        physical location via service display, optionally including a        web page, accessible with a terminal device,    -   a location management entity configured to obtain an indication        of a physical location of the user,    -   a zone database configured to store a plurality of geographical        content provision zones for the asset relating to the physical        location of the asset, and    -   a content provision entity configured to provide content to a        user visiting said network accessible service display based on        the particular zone whereto the user location is mapped.

In one embodiment the network accessible service display entity providesand/or controls at least portion of Internet-accessible service displaysuch as a web page. Alternatively it may provide/control a plurality ofweb pages forming a web site.

A web page or web site may be hosted by a number of web servers.Preferably, a user may access a web page through a web browserapplication.

In another, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the networkaccessible service display is rendered and/or managed via a dedicatedsoftware application. Such software application may, for example, be amobile application or other client software. The application maycommunicate with a remote entity such as a remote server executingserver-side software.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement is configured to obtain an indication of a location of auser via a client terminal device the user is applying for accessing theservice display. A client terminal device may generally be a computer,mobile phone such as smartphone, tablet, phablet, or any other networkaccessible device the location of which may be at least coarselytracked. The user location may be obtained through the monitoring ofe.g. IP (Internet Protocol) address, when a user visits the servicedisplay such as web page over an IP network, preferably the Internet.Preferred geolocation software or e.g. network accessible service may beutilized to map the IP address to a (geo)location.

Alternatively or additionally, other techniques to obtain user locationinformation may be utilized such as cellular positioning (e.g. based onCell ID (CID)), Wi-Fi and/or satellite positioning methods, optionallythe GPS.

In another, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement is configured to obtain an indication of the user locationvia a second client terminal device instead of the first terminal devicethrough which the user accesses the asset's service display. Forexample, a user may have registered his/her both terminal devices withthe service so that they are both associated with the user. A user mayultimately have a plurality of position trackable terminal devices thatthe arrangement may, either one at a time or collectively, optionallyeven simultaneously, utilize to obtain the indication.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement is configured to define a number of geographical contentprovision zones, preferably by asset manager input or control input fromother source(s), and store the data in a zone database. Alternatively oradditionally, zone configuration may be at least partially automated bythe arrangement entities. For example, an asset manager may determinethe asset's physical location, whereafter the arrangement generates anumber of zones related to the asset automatically based on apredefined, potentially adjustable, logic.

The defined geographical content provision zones are preferably at leasttwo-dimensional. They may comprise or be represented as a number ofgeometrical objects such as circles, spheres or other circular, orgenerally circumferential, objects relative to an asset's physicallocation. Alternatively or additionally geographical content provisionzones may be configured by other geographical or geography-linkedconstraints such as streets, landmarks, city borders, zip code areasetc., or via free-form map area selections on an electronic map layoutview, for instance.

In a further embodiment the content provision zones are associated withone or more content items. Content item may be or incorporate anadvertisement, offer, an indication of reservation situation orbasically any other information relating to the asset and provided onthe service display.

The content may comprise textual, visual and/or audible elements, e.g.texts, images and/or videos. The content may be provided as a banner orpop-up, for example. Alternatively or additionally, content provided tothe user may contain an action trigger such as a redirection link toanother web address, for example.

The content may be generated by asset manager input or other input, andbe stored in the zone database. Alternatively or additionally, thearrangement may be configured to generate content automatically based one.g. the location of the related asset and/or type of the asset (e.g.field of business).

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thecontent provision zones and/or content items are configured to follow atime schedule.

Using a time schedule it may be defined when a content provision zone isactive and thereby providing content to a user visiting a servicedisplay. Content provision zones may comprise multiple content items perzone. The playback of content items may be configured to follow the timeschedule, whereupon the users may be provided with temporally-dependent,variable content. Alternatively or additionally, at least some contentitems may be provided to the user(s) randomly. The service display maybe configured to set up a tracking means, e.g. cookies, to allow theprovision of varying and e.g. personalized content to the user(s),and/or the monitoring of content usage or related actions.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement comprises a service control UI (User Interface) such as webpage, configured to obtain e.g. asset manager input, such as generalcontrol input, location data, content data and/or schedule data tomanage the data provision, typically marketing, campaigns provided viathe service display, and e.g. related data acquisition or monitoringtasks.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement comprises one or more server entities, optionally in a cloudcomputing environment, configured to host at least part of thearrangement. In one embodiment, the arrangement may be considered orimplemented as one unified server arrangement hosting all theconstituting entities. Alternatively, e.g. the location managemententity may be hosted by a separate entity, optionally a third partyserver or service, configured to communicate location data.Alternatively or additionally, the network accessible service displaymay be hosted by a separate server, optionally a third party entity,providing a web hosting service.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment thearrangement is configured to determine user statistics regarding servicedisplay visits. The statistics may, preferably, indicate the number ofvisits, zone or generally location of visits and/or actions (e.g.‘clicks’) taken by the users. Such information may then be provided toasset managers or other interested, qualified parties even in real timein the form of various reports or (web) dashboards showing desiredmetrics, for instance.

In another aspect, a method for location based content provision to beperformed by an electronic arrangement, comprises

-   -   defining a number of geographically limited content provision        zones, preferably by asset manager input, for an asset        associated with a geographical location,    -   monitoring user visits to the asset's network accessible service        display, preferably a web page regarding the asset,    -   obtaining an indication of a location of a visiting user,    -   providing content to said user visiting said network accessible        service display based on the particular zone whereto the user is        mapped in view of the location indication.

In one embodiment user statistics are obtained, regarding servicedisplay visits, preferably comprising number of visits, location ofvisits and/or actions taken by all or selected users. Statistics may beobserved by asset managers or other concerned parties optionally in realtime e.g. via a digital dashboard that may be web-accessible orrequiring a specific client software for the access.

The method may be optionally collectively performed by a number ofentities, such as a server arrangement comprising one or more serversproviding the display and related location-based features. Yet, aterminal device such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computermay be utilized by the user to access the service display.

The previously presented considerations concerning the variousembodiments of the arrangement may be flexibly applied to theembodiments of the method mutatis mutandis and vice versa, as beingappreciated by a skilled person.

The utility of the present invention follows from a plurality of issuesdepending on each particular embodiment. A web user's physical locationmay be cleverly and transparently utilized for providing targeted andthereby potentially particularly interesting information to the user,which may accompany more users to the location of the asset.

The arrangement may provide asset managers with a user friendly solutionfor both temporally and geographically targeted content provision. Anasset manager may effortlessly create and manage multiple marketingcampaigns, for instance, by defining geographical zones, content and atime schedule.

The arrangement may also monitor user statistics and report suchinformation optionally in real time, which allows asset managers to eventake immediate effect on the campaigns and hence, optimizing campaignimplementation and evaluate its success via appropriate marketingperformance measurement and management (MPM) methods.

Editing campaign data and parameters such as the actual content to bedistributed via the service display and/or related rules (e.g. zones,scheduling, the appearance of content items, etc.) may be effectuatedeven during the campaign based on the reports or e.g. dashboard data,optionally different indicators and metrics responsive to user visits onthe service display, provided by the arrangement optionally in real-timefashion.

The expression “a number of” refers herein to any positive integerstarting from one (1), e.g. to one, two, or three.

The expression “a plurality of” refers herein to any positive integerstarting from two (2), e.g. to two, three, or four.

Different embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in thedependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED DRAWINGS

Next the invention is described in more detail with reference to theappended drawings in which

FIG. 1 illustrates the overall concept of the present invention via anembodiment thereof;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an arrangement in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representing the internals of an embodiment ofthe arrangement with emphasis on the related hardware; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram disclosing an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates, at 100, the overall concept of the present inventionaccording to an embodiment thereof.

The arrangement may be configured to define and store multiple contentprovision zones 104, 106, 108 for targeted content provision. Thecontent provision zones 104, 106, 108 are geographical areas relating toan asset's 102 physical location. The zones 104, 106, 108 are thusconsidered as meaningful from the standpoint of the asset 102, e.g.store, bar, or event, and its location. For instance, the asset'slocation may be surrounded and/or covered by one or more zones asdepicted in the figure. Alternatively, the asset 102 could be at theborder, or partly define the border, of one or more zones. Yet, theasset 102 could be adjacent or remote to one or more zones.

The zones may be geographically non-overlapping, e.g. concentric rings,or, there may be a number of zones, e.g. nested zones, with some commonoverlapping area(s).

An asset 102 may be any entity, resource, or item, e.g. business, withor at least associated with a physical location such as a store, eventlocation (e.g. concert, sports event or basically almost any type ofreal-world gathering) or restaurant, which has an incentive to provideinformation to its users or customers.

Within the content provision zones, users 110 a, 110 b, 110 c may beprovided with targeted, digital content when visiting the asset-related,network accessible service display such as a web page. The content mayincorporate an advertisement, offer, event and/or reservation update,for example.

The user may visit the asset's network accessible service display,optionally web page, with a terminal device 112 a, 112 b, 112 c such asa mobile phone, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, phablet, orany other conventional computing device applicable to connect to acommunications or specifically computer network, preferably using theWorld Wide Web (WWW), to access the service display. The arrangement mayobtain an indication of the user's location based on positioning theterminal device 112 a, 112 b, 112 c. Responsive to the related zone 104,106, 108 the user is mapped to in view of the location, targeted contentmay be then provided to the user via the service display.

With reference to the scenario depicted in FIG. 1, three contentprovision zones 104, 106, 108 related to the physical location of theasset 102 have been defined by circles (of different radiuses)substantially centrically surrounding the location. As is understood,the location zones could be determined by other geometrical areas andshapes as well, such as squares, triangles or any other suitabledesigns.

The content provision zones may be optionally determined by geographicalconstraints such as streets, landmarks, city boarders, zip code areas,etc. The zones may be user defined by an asset manager, or thearrangement may provide automatically at least a suggestion for zoneswhen an indication of the physical location of the asset is provided tothe arrangement as coordinates or pointed on a digital map layout, forexample.

The arrangement may comprise a control UI (User Interface), such as aservice control web page, through which an asset manager may define thecontent provision zones. Circular zones may be defined by enteringlimiting/border radius values for each zone, for example. The interfacemay comprise a digital map layout, where the asset manager may drawrespective content provision zones, optionally with a terminal devicecomprising a touch based UI, such as a smartphone or tablet device.Optionally, the location of the asset may be indicated via the maplayout as alluded above.

Anyone managing an asset's information at or relative to the arrangementmay be considered as an asset manager from the standpoint of the presentinvention. He/she may be an employee for the asset or a third partyentity assigned to manage the asset's information with no othermandatory relation to the asset, for example. The asset manager couldespecially be a marketing manager or other member of the marketingpersonnel responsible for the digital visibility of the asset in themedia.

FIG. 2 illustrates, at 200, an embodiment of the arrangement withemphasis on the internal logic thereof. The arrangement 230 may, in someembodiments, comprise a number of or a plurality of server entities,preferably in a cloud environment, for hosting the shown entities.

A user 210 may utilize one or more client (terminal) devices 212 a, 212b for accessing an asset's service display, such as a web page orrelated web site. Access may be realized by using a browser applicationat the terminal device 212 a, 212 b or e.g. dedicated client software.

Optionally, one of the devices 212 b, e.g. desktop computer, may be usedto access the service display whereas another device 212 a, e.g. mobileterminal, may be utilized for obtaining an indication of the userlocation, for example. Optionally, said another device 212 a may bepolled for location data upon detecting service access by an identifieduser 210 or user terminal 212 b.

The user 210 may have registered in the service (display) eitherdirectly or via more generic access control option such as selectedsingle sign-on (SSO) property, e.g. Facebook Connect™ or Google ID™, andprovided information thereto identifying and/or otherwise characterizingthe user, his/her terminal device(s), etc. Accordingly, the service maybe able to associate one user or user terminal with a number ofterminals.

Indeed, the arrangement 230 may comprise a network accessible servicedisplay entity 226, preferably incorporating or at least partiallycontrolling a display element such as a web page with at least visualand optionally audible content. As mentioned in multiple occasionshereinbefore, instead of a web page/web site the service display couldbe provided via a dedicated service accessed via (dedicated) clientsoftware application such as a proprietary computer application orspecifically, a mobile application. Even if no standard browser UI wasutilized, the communication between the client and the networkentity/entities could exploit web-based technologies such as HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

A web page or other realization of the service display may be providede.g. using HTML language. The display contain textual, visual andaudible content. Different add-on such as Macromedia Flash™ orJavascript™ may be applied to render the display more vivid and dynamic.The display may be directly hosted by the suggested arrangement or by anumber of other remote server entities 232 a with which the servicedisplay entity 226 is functionally connected for control over thecontent. The service display may contain dynamic elements configured tocommunicate with the arrangement, or rest of the arrangement dependingon the embodiment. The dynamic elements may allow changes in the contentprovision.

Another, at least logically identifiable, entity of the arrangement 230is a location management entity 220 configured to obtain an indicationof user location. Location indication may be obtained based on locatinga user terminal, e.g. user terminal digital address such as IP (InternetProtocol) address, and/or by cellular, Wi-Fi or GPS positioning.

The indication may be at least partly determined externally, i.e. byelement(s) residing outside the arrangement, optionally at a remoteserver entity 232 b hosting e.g. geolocation service/providing locationdata. Additionally or alternatively, location data such as address dataand/or GPS coordinates may be directly obtained from the associated userterminal devices 212 a, 212 b in response to a location data request,for instance.

The arrangement 230 comprises a zone database, or data repository, 222to store data such as zone definitions and optionally related contentdata. The data may generally comprise geographical data, content items(graphics, text, video, audio, etc.), and scheduling data, for example.The data may be inputted or adapted by the asset manager and/orautomatically by the arrangement logic. For instance, selected contentdistribution and scheduling algorithms may be utilized to generate afeasible location/content/time schedule data for asset campaigns. Askilled person will appreciate the fact that the term ‘database’ mayherein refer to one or more databases of selected format(s) and/or otherdata repository/repositories capable of storing the necessaryinformation regarding the zones.

Dedicated data including location/zone, content and/or time scheduledata may be referred to as ‘campaign’ from a standpoint of an asset.Further follow-up data such as reports indicative of e.g. campaignpenetration may be included. A number of selected algorithms may be usedto monitor and control the arrangement and utilize asset manager inputfor generating at least partially ready-made contents, determinelocations/zones, time schedules and/or a combination of these(campaign). Algorithms may for example, take into account the assets'field of practice such as restaurant, shop, theatre, ski center etc. andgenerate for each field generally suitable contents, locations/zones,time schedules and/or a combination of these.

The arrangement 230 may be configured to host/provide a service UI suchas service control page as a part of or via the asset's own web page(s)or as a separate service web page, for example. Such service page may beconfigured to receive user input data regarding content provision e.g.from the asset managers or arrangement operators. The asset manage mayprovide information for controlling the targeted content provision. Suchinformation may comprise geographical location information dataindicative of zones, content data to be delivered to users residing inthe zones, and/or related time schedule data affecting content selectionand/or distribution, for example.

Additionally, the arrangement 230 comprises a content provision entity224 configured to utilize the zone database 222 and provide a uservisiting a service display from a detected physical location withtargeted content (item(s)) in accordance with the zone informationstored.

The content provision entity 224 may compare the obtained user locationdata with stored content data and based on the user's location and/ore.g. time of service display visit, the content provision entity 224 mayselect suitable content data item(s) from the zone database 222 andprovide such to the user via the service display. Each content item mayhave been associated with one or more zones and/or suitable distributionor reproduction/playback time slots.

A web site/web page serving the users with the service display may forexample comprise JavaScript™ or other dynamic means allowing the contentprovision entity to communicate with the web page and providing the userwith targeted content.

FIG. 3 illustrates, at 300, an embodiment of the presented inventionwith the emphasis on the related applicable hardware. The arrangementmay comprise a number of server entities, preferably in a cloudenvironment allowing flexible and dynamic resource allocation amongother benefits.

One or more server entities 330 of the arrangement may comprise a numberof processor 340 a and memory 342 a devices. Processor devices 340 a maycontain elements such as microcontrollers, microprocessors, DSPs(digital signal processor), programmable logic chips, etc. for executinginstructions and processing various data potentially stored in one ormore memory elements 342 a such as memory chips. Optionally, at leastsome processing and memory elements may be integrated.

The arrangement may also comprise a number of software application(s)344 a (computer program products) to execute the different tasks thearrangement is set to fulfill such as obtaining indication of userlocation, processing zone database and comparing stored content datawith user location, providing content to service display, etc. Softwaremay be stored in memory element(s) 342 a for execution by processorelement(s) 340 a.

The UI 346 a (User Interface) may refer to local and/or remote UIfeature, allowing control of the server 330 hardware and/or the software344 a. Local UI may comprise data output means, such as a display,and/or input means such a mouse, keyboard or touch surface, for example.

Remote UI functionalities may be offered via a data transfer interface348 a. The data transfer interface, preferably a network interface suchas Ethernet or other LAN (Local Area Network) interface, allowsconnecting to external network(s) 350, preferably the internet enablingcommunication with remote terminal devices 312 a, 312 b and e.g.external server arrangements 332 a, 332 b. Browser-based UIs with e.g.HTTP and HTML (HyperText Markup Language) may be provided, for example.A web server may be hosted for the purpose.

Entities 332 a and 332 b illustrate external elements that maycommunicate with the arrangement and provide data such as location data,host service displays (e.g. asset-related web sites), etc.

For example, location management entity may communicate with a number ofserver entities 332 a for obtaining location information regarding theusers accessing the service display via their terminal devices that canbe positioned.

Additionally or alternatively, the service display may be hosted andoperated by a number of server entities 332 b, e.g. web servers,configured to communicate with the arrangement. The service displaypreferably supports dynamic elements for dynamic content provision e.g.from the zone database. The remote server entities 332 a, 332 b maygenerally comprise similar elements as the server arrangement 330.

As mentioned hereinbefore, in some embodiments the arrangement 330 mayitself host/operate at least part of the service display and/or at leastpart of the positioning elements.

Also, the terminal devices 312 a, 312 b that are in possession of theusers and used for accessing the service display, may generally comprisecorresponding elements such as a number of processing entities 340 b,memory entities 342 b, data transfer interfaces 348 b, e.g. a cellularand/or wired network (Ethernet or other LAN) interface, softwareapplication(s) 344 b and UI 346 b such as a touch surface, commonly andincreasingly available in contemporary smartphones and tablets, or akeypad in laptop or desktops, for example.

FIG. 4 includes, at 400, a flow diagram of an embodiment of the methodaccording to the present invention for targeted provision of content tousers visiting a network accessible service display, to be performed byan electronic arrangement, optionally a number of server entities.Method items associated with user presence or user actions are markedwith solid lines in the figure, whereas other items for managing andcontrolling the shown activity are marked with dotted lines.

At 402, method start-up, preparatory actions may take place. This mightcomprise setting up a number of server entities and the needed software,adjusting the configurations, establishing necessary networkconnections, etc.

At 404, content provision data is configured. Content provision data maycomprise geographical location data such as asset location and/orzone-defining data, content data and/or time schedule data. The data maybe generated by asset manager input or at least partially automaticallyby the arrangement of the present invention.

The execution of the method may be considered as repetitive orcontinuous having regard to many method items, particularly 406, 408,410, as multiple users visit the service page, their locations aredetermined, and targeted content provided accordingly.

However, after the zones and related content provision rules have beendefined, the actual content such as ads obtained, and the servicedisplay ramped up, further execution of item 404 may be basicallyunnecessary until the definitions are edited, new content provided, oldcontent removed, campaign scheduling of content distribution revised,etc., which is indicated by the dotted loop-back arrow and revision item413. Accordingly, from the standpoint of ordinary service (end-) users,one may consider item 406 as the first step of the method execution theyperceive.

Indeed, at 406 a user visits the service display via e.g. a browserapplication installed at a terminal device, such as a mobile terminal,laptop, or desktop computer, for instance, which is monitored anddetected by the arrangement executing the method. The network accessibleservice display may correspondingly contain a web page associated with atarget asset having a physical location such as a store, restaurant,event, etc.

At 408, an indication of user location is obtained. The location of theuser accessing the service display, e.g. web page, with a terminaldevice, may be obtained by different (terminal) positioning means suchas IP address, GPS, Wi-Fi and/or cellular network, e.g. cell-ID, basedtracking.

At 410, suitable targeted content item(s) are determined based on theuser location relative to the content provision zones. The arrangementpreferably provides the content to the user via the visited servicedisplay.

Additionally or alternatively, targeted content item(s) could beprovided via a supplementary channel or device. For instance, if theuser visited the service display via a communications channel orterminal of a first type (e.g. desktop computer), the content could beprovided via a communications channel or terminal of a second type (e.g.mobile terminal) provided that the service is capable of reaching theuser via multiple technologies/devices.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the user may have registered or logged in theservice, whereupon the service may, based on the available user profileor other available user data, determine the applicabletechnologies/devices for content provision.

At 412, the arrangement calculates or otherwise establishes statisticson e.g. user visits, user locations, clicks (i.e. content selections onthe service display), and/or provided content items, and generatesobservable reports to target entities such as asset managers.

Statistics may be established and optionally observed substantially inreal-time e.g. via a digital (web) dashboard during the execution of themethod and/or aggregated as a final report at the end of the contentprovision period, which may imply the expiry of the content provisioncampaign relating to the particular asset in question.

At 414, method execution is ended, but as explained hereinearlier, theexecution of the method items is typically repetitive and responsive toe.g. user visits on the service display. Campaign content and rules maybe edited optionally several times during the campaign with reference toitem 413.

A computer software product embodied in a non-transitory carrier, suchas a memory card or an optical disc, may be provided to enable executionof the method items by a target computer device belonging to thearrangement, e.g. a server.

Generally, in various embodiments the asset manager may determine acontent provision campaign by defining geographical location, zones,content information items to be distributed and/or related timeschedules. An asset manager may define a number of geographicallocations and zones for content provision.

An asset may be associated with one or more physical/geographicallocations, potentially still a single location. However, e.g. chainstores or chain businesses in general may want to include multiplephysical assets (e.g. store/bar/event locations) and related locationsin a single campaign. Accordingly, zones relating to the assets, orasset locations, shall be defined either manually, in acomputer-assisted manner (default zones may be determined and suggested,whereupon the asset manager may accept them as is or modify thesuggestions), or fully automatically, e.g. based on different radiusesfrom the given asset location(s).

For example, a zone may be determined, as indicated in FIG. 1, by anarea spanned by two concentric circles of different radiuses enclosingthe location of the asset. In the shown case, the zones are additionallysubstantially asset location-centric. Alternatively or additionally,geographical location information may be configured by othergeographical constraints such as streets, landmarks, city borders, zipcode areas etc.

In some embodiments, a border line or border radius could be defined fora zone such that all areas outside the line/radius or inside theline/radius will belong to the zone. Optionally, two or more zones maybe geographically overlapping, i.e. they have some common area. Theasset does not have to be surrounded or covered by all or any of thezones. Instead, the asset may be adjacent or remote to one or morezones.

The asset manager may set time limits for the geographicaldeterminations so that the content provision as controlled by thearrangement follows a desired time schedule.

As being associated with the indicated geographical locations and/orzones, content items are selectively provided to a user visiting theasset's service display.

Optionally, an asset manager may solely or mainly provide informationregarding the asset's physical location and e.g. field of practice,whereupon the arrangement will generate a data provision, e.g.marketing, campaign structure matching with the field and locationaccording to predefined logic. Obviously still, content items to beprovided to the users based on their location upon service displayaccess shall be obtained.

Next, different aspects of the method and arrangement in accordance withthe present invention will be explained through three feasible, butessentially still only exemplary, use scenarios:

Scenario 1:

First, a ski center desires to increase their sales and decides to setup a related data provision or marketing campaign. The marketing manager(i.e. asset manager) logs in the arrangement service page optionallythrough the ski center's (i.e. asset's) own web page. The manager mayinput the asset's physical location if not being already stored at thearrangement as associated with asset-related account.

Subsequently, the manager may define a plurality of campaign zones. Asan example only, the manager defines three campaign zones (i.e. contentprovision zones), a first zone with a 5 km radius, a second zone with a50 km radius and a third zone having a 100 km radius.

The arrangement may be then configured to generate the zones in a waythat first zone area covers range 0-5 km, the second 5-50 km and thethird 50-100 km, or the zones may be added on top of each other, so thatthe first area covers range 0-5 km, second 5-55 km and third 55-155 km,depending on the embodiment of the arrangement. The zones may have, butdo not need to have, as a skilled person will readily understand,circular borders.

Next the manager may indicate the content to be provided. Content itemsmay be user (manager)-provided or generated/selected automatically butpreferably with user supervision or modification option.

The arrangement may then store a set of content items, such as at leastpartly textual items exhibiting messages ‘5% discount on ski ticketstoday’, ‘rent ski's for −30% tomorrow’ and ‘next weekend under 7 yearolds get free entrance accompanied by a parent’, for example. Thesecould be linked to the zones so that the first text would be provided tothe users accessing the service display within the closest range, thesecond text to the users within the second closest range and the thirdtext to the users within the third range, for example.

In other words, the linkage between content items and zones may have atemporal aspect. Zone closest to the asset(-related) location may beassociated with content items that are temporally closest, etc.

Next, a manager may define a time schedule for these contents to beprovided to user's visiting the service display, preferably web site.The manager may decide that they will be shown on a Tuesday 1 pm-3 pm.The arrangement may comprise options for daily, weekly or monthlyrepetition, for example

Now, when a user is within 5 km from the ski center on Tuesday between12-15 and visits the asset's web page, the user will be provided withthe content item indicating ‘5% discount on ski tickets today’. The itemmay be provided as a banner or pop-up via a web page, for example.

Scenario 2:

A shop in Helsinki, decides to set up a campaign. The shop manager (i.e.asset manager) logs in the arrangement service web page and selects as afirst area the city of Helsinki, as a second area the remaining capitalarea, which comprises a few cities around Helsinki, as third area therest of Finland and as a fourth area outside of finish boarders (i.e.rest of the world).

The arrangement may store, as content items, different offers such as‘5% discount on everything for the rest of the day’, ‘10% discount oneverything tomorrow morning 9 am-10 am’ and ‘the fall selection willarrive next weekend, come and have a look’, ‘summer clearance sales inthree weeks’ which could be associated with the content zones, firsttext to closest, second text to second closest, third text to third andfourth to fourth, for example.

The manager may further decide a time schedule for the contents and/orcontent zones. The first content zone may be valid for the first daybetween 12-15 pm, the second content for the first day between 12-21 pm,and the third for the rest of the week, whereas the fourth is valid for3 weeks, for example. The manager may adapt the campaign whenever he/shelikes and provide e.g. new content. The manager may also observestatistics regarding service display visits and/or receive a reportafter the campaign has completed with a statistics summary. Such reportsmay also be generated during the campaign, for example, daily, weekly ormonthly to enable campaign revision while it is still ongoing.

Scenario 3:

A theatre gets a two-person cancellation one hour before the show. Thereservation service may be linked to the arrangement, providing everyonewithin 5 km of the theatre visiting the theatre's web page with a pop-upor other message ‘2 tickets available, click here for booking’ and thefirst user to activate the indicated functionality may then book thetickets, for example.

Further scenarios may be easily contemplated by a skilled person basedon the above teachings. For instance, e.g. a browser or dedicated clientsoftware-based service display could be provided in connection with, orintegrated with, messaging or chat service application, consideringpopular WhatsApp™ or Skype™ as examples. When a user resides in, enters,or leaves, a predefined zone at certain instant, he/she may be providedwith a related, topical message via the display.

Consequently, a skilled person may on the basis of this disclosure andgeneral knowledge apply the provided teachings in order to implement thescope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims in eachparticular use case with necessary modifications, deletions, andadditions, if any.

1. An electronic arrangement comprising a network accessible servicedisplay entity for enabling a user to obtain information regarding anasset associated with physical location via service display accessiblewith a terminal device, a location management entity configured toobtain an indication of a physical location of the user, a zone databaseconfigured to store a plurality of geographical content provision zonesfor the asset relating to the physical location of the asset, and acontent provision entity configured to provide content to a uservisiting said service display based on the particular zone whereto theuser location is mapped.
 2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein theservice display incorporates a web site or web page at least partiallycontrolled by the service display entity.
 3. The arrangement of claim 1,configured to obtain control input regarding the existing content orcontent provision rules and to edit said content or content provisionrules responsive to the control input.
 4. The arrangement of claim 1,configured to obtain control input regarding the existing content orcontent provision rules and to edit said content or content provisionrules responsive to the control input, wherein the arrangement is obtainsaid input during a data provision campaign relating to the asset and torevise said content or rules during the campaign based on the input topreferably take effect substantially immediately.
 5. The arrangement ofclaim 1, wherein a geographical content provision zone or a content itemis associated with temporal data, optionally a time schedule, period ofvalidity, expiration period, or expiration time.
 6. The arrangement ofclaim 1, configured to associate a geographical content provision zonephysically closer to the location of the asset with a content itemtemporally closer to the present, and configured to associate anothergeographical content provision zone farther away from the location ofthe asset with another content item temporally farther from the present.7. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the location management entity isconfigured to obtain the indication of the location of the user via theterminal device of the user.
 8. The arrangement of claim 1, configuredto obtain the indication of the location of the user via the terminaldevice's IP (Internet Protocol) address.
 9. The arrangement of claim 1,configured to obtain the indication of the location of the user viacellular data, optionally cell-ID data, associated with the terminaldevice.
 10. The arrangement of claim 1, configured to obtain theindication of the location of the user via positioning data, optionallyGPS (Global Positioning System) or GLONASS (Global Navigation SatelliteSystem) data, associated with the terminal device.
 11. The arrangementof claim 1, configured to obtain the indication of the location of theuser via a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal devicehas been linked with the user in the user information accessible to thearrangement.
 12. The arrangement of claim 1, configured to transmit datato construct said service display via a dedicated software application,optionally a mobile application, running on the terminal device.
 13. Thearrangement of claim 1, configured to define one or more geographicalcontent provision zones by manual control input, optionally throughselection via graphical user interface preferably incorporating a maplayout.
 14. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein at least onegeographical content provision zone encompasses, surrounds or neighborsthe physical location of the asset.
 15. The arrangement of claim 1,wherein one or more of said geographical content provision zones aresubstantially of regular shape, optionally substantially of circular,elliptical, or square shape.
 16. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein ageographical content provision zone is at least partially defined by ageographical separator, optionally street, river, bridge, railway, sea,shore, building, park, forest or other landmark.
 17. The arrangement ofclaim 1, wherein a geographical content provision zone is at leastpartially defined by administrative border, optionally city, district orother area border.
 18. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein ageographical content provision zone is associated with a plurality ofoptionally dedicated content items, such as at least partially visualitems incorporating textual and optionally audible message elements. 19.The arrangement of claim 1, comprising one or more server entities,optionally located in a cloud computing environment, configured to hostthe entities and the zone database.
 20. The arrangement of claim 1,configured to determine statistics or metrics, optionally accessible viaa digital dashboard, regarding service display visits, preferablycomprising indication of the number of visits, location of visitingusers and/or actions taken by user via the service display.
 21. Thearrangement of claim 1, wherein the asset is at least one elementselected from the group consisting of: a business, restaurant, club,cafeteria, store, department store, warehouse store, chain of stores,boutique, beauty salon, hear salon, cobbler, rental service, hotel, gasstation, sports venue, institution, governmental institution, and event.22. A method for location based content provision to be performed by oneor more electronic devices, comprising defining a number ofgeographically limited content provision zones for an asset associatedwith a geographical location, monitoring user visits to the asset'snetwork accessible service display, preferably a web page regarding theasset, obtaining an indication of a location of a visiting user, andproviding content to said user visiting said service display based onthe particular zone where the user location is mapped to.
 23. The methodof claim 22, wherein statistics are determined regarding service displayvisits, preferably comprising information on the number of visits,locations of visiting users and/or actions taken by the users.
 24. Acomputer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readablecarrier medium, comprising computer code causing the computer toexecute: defining one or more geographical content provision zones foran asset associated with a geographical location, monitoring visits tothe asset's network accessible service display, optionally a web pageregarding the asset, obtaining indication of a location of a uservisiting the service display, and providing digital content to said userbased on the particular zone where the user location is mapped to.